Fried battered chicken parts have long been prepared by home and restaurant chefs, and have been a favorite of many consumers. It has therefore been attractive for mass producers of food products to attempt to manufacture an equivalent product which can be frozen, packaged, distributed and sold to customers for their subsequent thawing and warming prior to consumption.
One typical way of preparing such food on a mass production basis has been to fry the battered chicken parts in hot cooking oil for a time sufficient to cook them thoroughly while also browning and crisping their exteriors. Although such product has been found acceptable, this process of cooking does involve the following drawbacks. First, it requires a considerable time for the exteriorly-applied frying heat to penetrate the battered chicken part and cook the interior meat thoroughly, especially the meat immediately adjacent the bone. Secondly, the cooking of the battered exterior of the chicken part is, in such process, necessarily strongly tied to the cooking of the interior meat, since the same external heating source is used simultaneously to cook the exterior battered portion and the interior of the meat. Thus, thorough browning and cooking of the exterior battered portion of a thin chicken part may result in more cooking of the interior than is desirable, with some undesirable drying or toughening of the interior meat, while if a thick chicken part is cooked sufficiently to assure complete cooking of the most interior part of the meat this may tend to result in overcooking or overbrowning of the exterior portion; conversely, if a thick battered chicken part is cooked just enough to produce optimal browning and crisping of the exterior, the interior meat portions adjacent the bone will generally not be adequately cooked, or if a thin battered chicken part is cooked only sufficiently to cook the interior to proper moist doneness, the exterior may not have the crispness, taste or coloration desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,228 of Morris R. Jeppson entitled Method of Preparing Precooked Poultry Pieces, filed June 30, 1967 and issued Aug. 3, 1971 describes several other methods which have been tried for the high-volume preparation of cooked chicken. One such technique comprises cooking chicken pieces in a steam chamber. However, this is described in the patent as having the substantial drawbacks that it requires cooking times approaching one hour, does not provide a product with the characteristics which the consumer associates with fried chicken, and tends to produce product which is unevenly cooked, with the interior portions of the thick pieces being somewhat underdone while the surface regions tend to be overdone and soggy; also, the skin has a tendency to detach from the chicken parts and at best lacks the preferred crispness and golden coloring. In addition, an undesirable phenomenon known as bone darkening tends to occur, which produces an internal coloration which is unattractive to the consumer.
Also mentioned in that patent as a possibility is cooking the chicken or other poultry by a combination of steam and microwave heating. The microwaves accomplish quite rapid cooking of the product but tend to dehydrate the product; the steam simultaneously present tends to maintain product moisture despite the drying-out due to the microwave cooking. The cited patent states that, however, chicken cooked in this manner still lacks the taste, texture and appearance, particularly in the surface regions, which the consumer associates with fried chicken.
The referenced patent also states that, at the time of filing the application from which that patent matured, known techniques did not provide for the economical high-volume production of precooked storable poultry food products having all the flavor, texture and appearance characteristics which are desired by consumers. The patentee of the referenced patent proposes to overcome various of the afore-described difficulties by a cooking process in which both microwave heating in a hot, humid atmosphere and hot oil cooking are utilized. In one variation of patentee's process, chicken parts are breaded (not battered) prior to microwave and steam heating, to produce what patentee terms a high quality product having the characteristics of conventionally fried chicken. The steam and microwave heating is used in conjunction with a "short" hot oil cooking step which "generally follows the microwave heating." The purpose of this is to produce a browning reaction which fully develops the preferred flavor and crispness as well as coloration. The microwave in steam is stated to be performed typically for from about 3 to about 6 minutes, and followed by a brief second cooking in hot oil for about 1 minute.
The referenced patent further states that it is usually preferable not to use a batter, in order to avoid producing a heavy coating on the chicken pieces; with such heavy coating, the finished product may tend to have somewhat the character of steamed chicken beneath the batter, and the preferred skin crispness may be lacking. Further, the patent states that while it is possible in some instances to perform the oil cooking step prior to the microwave cooking in steam, poor results are obtained if this is done, in that a longer frying time is required and there is a tendency for the product surface to become too moist from water driven to the surface during the subsequent microwave cooking step.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful method of cooking battered chicken parts.
Another object is to provide such method which is quick and economical, yet produces an excellent product, and does not require the use of steam.
A further object is to provide such method which makes possible the quick and economical cooking of battered chicken parts in a manner such that the exterior battered portions of the chicken part are provided with the optimum amount of cooking to ensure the desired crispness and color, while the interior portions are cooked to the optimum degree and with adequate moisture retained, so as to produce a high quality product.